I Was Born In A Small Town

Travis Sharp’s Lawrenceburg borrows a plot from Star Wars and clothes, hair and accents from The Dukes of Hazard to follow a Luke Duke/Skywalker's fight to keep a Wal-Mart-esque Big Box retail store from opening in his small Tennessee town. Why use such ubiquitous icons of pop culture to warn against corporate hegemony? ‘Cause it’s a comedy not a manifesto. More Agit-Pop than Prop, the idea is to have some laughs not romanticize some agrarian utopia. The threat to Lawrenceburg is not nostalgic but practical: less local control of your local economy, lowered wages and a net loss of jobs.

I grew up in rural Wisconsin. We had more Catholics than Baptists, but still had tractor pulls and demolition derbies, country music and Paul Harvey on the radio, hunting, fishing and lots and lots of beer. The Dukes of Hazard was very popular when I was in school, all the more so when we learned that Tom Wopat hailed from nearby Lodi. To date there is no Wal-Mart there and plenty of local businesses get by on farm and tourist dollars. (It’s right by the river.)

Now I live near Little Five Points where a growing number of Big Box stores have opened nearby. But there’s also a strong sense of neighborhood. As the Edgewood Target neared completion I'd joke onstage “Hope that doesn’t force out of business all these family-owned head shops.” It'd get a laugh, but as much from uncertainty about L5P's future as from any hint of wit. Every community feels threatened.

Meanwhile, Atlanta’s former mayor is lending aid and comfort to Wal-Mart. His main argument is that working families could sure use lower prices--a valid point argued fuller here. But is Wal-Mart an example of a socially just company? In contrast to Methodist minister and Wal-Mart critic Joe Lowery and Baptist ministers like Dr. King, Rev. Young is a Congregationalist and member of the United Church of Christ. Might there be a theological reason for his Wal-Mart support. Quite the opposite. "The basic unit of the United Church of Christ is the local church...." My only guess is that Ambassador Young’s old church must have had a really old usher at the door or used an off-brand communion like Sam’s Choice Unleavened Wafers or Equate Brand Krist. But while he's an International man of God, I'm content to think metaphysical and shop local. When I can.